You have to explore Alfredo Barsuglia’s desert hidden swimming pool, to use it!

At last we come across a public installation that flaunts its gimmicky nature with equal measures of elusiveness. Wait, did we say elusive? Well, that is the fascinating idea behind artist Alfredo Barsuglia’s hidden swimming pool in the lone corner of the Mojave Desert. The oddball scope entails – one has to achieve the key and find this ‘secret’ 55 sq ft pool, and only then can he/she take a refreshing dip in it under the hot summer sun!

To that end, the first step for the interested patron is to find the key that would open the enclosure to the covered swimming pool. One could get this special key from the MAK Center for Art and Architecture. But having the access key is just one part of the larger puzzle.

To complete the perilous quest, the user has to embark on an adventurous journey to look out for the the ‘holy grail’ of swimming pools, which is strategically kept hidden away from the main road. The several hours worth of exploration (that encompasses travel by both car and foot) might land you in the correct spot – and only then can you bask in the glory of the soothingly cool water under the effulgent orb of the angry desert sun.

Enough poetry; but what exactly is the notion behind this whimsical project that makes user traverse the unforgiving Mojave Desert? Well, Alfredo Barsuglia has made his point clear in a pretty straightforward manner (as said to LA Times) –

I’m interested in the way that these (pools) are often integrated into the architecture of a house. And, often, people will have a pool, but they don’t even get into it. They just like to show that they have it. It shows they don’t have to think about water.